By Sarah Fiorello

Capsicum annuum ‘Fish Pepper’
Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)

Native region: Central and South America

Culinary historian Michael Twitty believes that fish peppers were first brought to Baltimore, Maryland by Haitians in the late 1800’s and soon after appeared in area gardens, kitchens, and produce markets, grown almost exclusively by black farmers. Fish pepper is most often used in seafood dishes and although their use drastically declined in the early 1900’s, the seeds are now widely available and growing in popularity in the Chesapeake Bay area.

African Bird’s-eye pepper

Capsicum frutescens ‘African Bird’s Eye’

Watermelon

Citrullus lanatus

Taro

Colocasia esculentis